Tottenham Hotspur front man Jermain Defoe was persuaded to sign for Major League Soccer (MLS) side Toronto FC following a personal phone call from rap artist Drake, according to reports in the Daily Mirror.

The England international has agreed to join the MLS side on a lucrative £90,000-per-week deal, while he has also been offered unlimited flights back to the UK for both himself and his family, as well as two houses in Toronto.

And Defoe will be loaned straight back to the north London club until the MLS season gets under way on March 8, with the only negative to the move being the threat that it may place on his chances of now going to next summer’s Fifa World Cup finals in Brazil as part of England manager Roy Hodgson’s 23-man squad.

However, the 31-year-0ld is understood to still be confident of being selected by the Three Lions boss, with the striker feeling that the financial package being offered by Toronto is just too good to turn down, especially with the player having barely been chosen to play up front in the Premier League so far this season by Spurs.